25K mark: 2:18:49 and still feeling absolutely fantastic! Loving the course and the crowds!

28K mark: spotted my mom. Spent at least a good 5 minutes chatting to her and petting her service dog Diddy (he was all excited when he spotted me and kept jumping up and down :)). And another 5 minutes trying to find her in the crowds - while calling her on my phone. Not a wise decision...at all... Note to self: next time - consider to keep running and leave the chatting for after the finish line. ;)

30K: 2:53:19 - yeah...the chatting and phone thing didn't really help with this one. ;) Quads are starting to cramp up, but nothing too bad. Took some salt.

32K: runners are collapsing all around me - due to the heat. And it is extremely hot. I decide to drop my pace and finish this thing without heat exhaustion / heat stroke. Especially since I have another marathon scheduled in 2 weeks...

35K: 3:25:28

42.2K (Garmin said 42.6K): 4:10:31

Taken into consideration the extreme heat and the chatting to my mom part, I'll take it. Would have loved to go sub-4, but 'hey' better luck next time! ;) At least I crossed the finish line already excited for the next marathon! :)

Plus...with the New York City Marathon being my first road marathon, and that one taking me 5:18 hours due to the calf strain at mile 8 / 13K (and limping the damn thing out....ouch!) - and Paris being my second road marathon, it's still a 1 hour 8 minutes PR. Ha! ;)

Memorable sight: Eiffel Tower? Louvre? Bastille? Nope...runners collapsing from the 35K mark on (as in: dropping in the middle of the road, and just staying there...). Heat stroke. Not a pleasant sight. Paramedics were all over the place. Scared the heck out of me!

OMG girl, it's like the Chicago Marathon last year all over again! Seeing heat exhaustion is no joke and I can't even imagine how being a runner in the race it would have made me feel! I'm so glad you were able to keep it together and finish, with a HUGE PR might I add despite stopping for a chat! LOVE IT! Rest up chica!

OK, so you ran 4:10 in 80 degrees... and you stopped to talk to your mom for 5 minutes... and you spent another 5 minutes looking for her... and you deliberately slowed down at the end. By my calculations, that translates to a BQ under normal conditions! Great race!!!